


Reversal

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Difference, Angst, Community: comment_fic, F/M, Het, Rare Pair, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 23:52:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8774632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Caitlin confronts Joe about Francine.





	

**Author's Note:**

> http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/768549.html?thread=100717861#t100717861  
> Theme : rare pairs  
> Prompt: The Flash, Caitlin Snow/Joe West, "I can't believe you lied to me.

"I can't believe you lied to me."

Joe hears the words and fights back a sigh, looks up to see Caitlin standing beside the couch, her arms crossed over her chest. There's an expression somewhere between hurt and concern on her face, but no anger, which, after the conversations he's had with Iris lately, he's actually taking as a good thing. "I've lied to a lot of people, sweetheart," he tells her as he reaches for the bottle of bourbon on the dining room table, pours himself another glass. "About a lot of things." 

Her lips thin and this time there's a hint of anger definitely starting to creep in. "So I'm not that special then?"

There's a double layer to that question and he doesn't have to think about his answer. "You know better than that." He looks at her when he speaks and she must see from his face that he means it, means it on every level that it's possible to mean it, because her face softens, a breath of air leaving her lungs in a rush. 

"So explain it to me." It's a request, not a demand, made as she crosses the room, pulls out a chair and sits down beside him. Snagging his glass of bourbon, she knocks back a healthy mouthful before handing it back to him and he does likewise before he speaks. 

"I lied to Iris because I didn't want her to think her mom didn't love her enough to stay. I lied to everyone else because I had to keep up the story for Iris. And I lied to you..." He shakes his head, reaches for her hand. She meets him halfway, laces her fingers through his and that gesture means more to him than she'll ever know. "I lied to you because I've been lying for twenty years now... and I didn't know where to begin untangling it all." He brings their joined hands to his lips, kissing her knuckles. "Caitlin, you are the first woman... the only woman... in twenty years I've let myself really fall for... you have no idea how special you are to me."

There are tears in her eyes, in her voice when she speaks. "I have some idea," she whispers and, miracle of miracles, she leans in to him, brings her lips to his. When she pulls back, her hand finds his cheek, thumb moving up and down, brushing away tears he's surprised to find himself crying. "Tell me everything about Francine," he hears her say quietly and, taking a deep breath, that's exactly what he does. 

He tells her about the drugs and the overdoses, the rehabs and the searches. He tells her about the radio call to his own address, about seeing Iris beside that stove, Francine passed out in the bedroom, about how he'd been so sure she was dead. He tells her about finding that Francine had left rehab, about searching for her yet again, turning up nothing for weeks on end until he finally decided he couldn't do it anymore. That he had a daughter to take care of, a little girl who needed him. And he tells her about how he'd been so guilty about his lies, so caught up in his own pain and his failure to help his wife, that he'd been a poor excuse for a father, until an eleven year old boy has changed their house, changed his life. 

He talks until his throat is hoarse, makes a good dent in the bourbon but he's not the only one. She takes sip from his glass but one of her hands is linked with his at all times and she doesn't interrupt as she listens, lets him get it all out of his system. 

"Iris isn't talking to me," he finishes. "She's staying with a friend tonight... I don't know if she'll..." His throat chokes at the thought of losing his baby girl and Caitlin's hand tightens on his. 

"She's mad," she says. "But she'll come around."

She speaks with quiet confidence and Joe wants to believe her more than anything in the world. "How can you be so sure?" 

Caitlin's smile is bright, if brittle. "Because she loves you," she says simply. "Just like I do."

They are the only words he wanted to hear from her and they make his tears flow again as, in a total reversal from their normal roles, she pulls him close and lets him cry in her arms.


End file.
